The treatment of choice for the emergency treatment of cardiac arrest typically includes standard techniques of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, at least in the non-hospital setting. The treatment of cardiac arrest or insufficiency in the post-operative cardiac patient (recent midsternotomy) sometimes requires the more drastic reopening of the chest and the manual massage of the heart by the surgeon. To perform such a cardiac massage, the surgeon places his hand into the thoracic cavity and encircles the myocardium with his fingers and thumb. Then, by squeezing, the surgeon approximates systole and diastole as best he or she is able. This same cardiac massage technique may be required during cardiac surgery itself, at various times during the operation, during, for example, decreased cardiac output, asystole, etc.